8/27/2021 C# ArrayList (With Examples)

C# - ArrayList

In C#, the  ArrayList  is a non-generic collection of objects whose size increases dynamically.
It is the same as Array except that its size increases dynamically.

An  ArrayList   can be used to add unknown data where you don't know the types and the
size of the data.

Create an ArrayList

The  ArrayList   class included in the  System.Collections   namespace. Create an object of

Example: Create an ArrayList

using System.Collections;

ArrayList arlist = new ArrayList();

// or

var arlist = new ArrayList(); // recommended

Adding Elements in ArrayList

Use the  Add()  method or object initializer syntax to add elements in an  ArrayList .

An  ArrayList  can contain multiple  null  and duplicate values.

Example: Adding Elements in ArrayList

// adding elements using ArrayList.Add() method

var arlist1 = new ArrayList();

arlist1.Add(1);

arlist1.Add("Bill");

arlist1.Add(" ");

arlist1.Add(true);

arlist1.Add(4.5);

arlist1.Add(null);

// adding elements using object initializer syntax

var arlist2 = new ArrayList()

2, "Steve", " ", true, 4.5, null

};

Try it

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Use the  AddRange(ICollection c)   method to add an

Example: Adding Entire Array/ArrayList into ArrayList

var arlist1 = new ArrayList();

var arlist2 = new ArrayList()

1, "Bill", " ", true, 4.5, null

};

int[] arr = { 100, 200, 300, 400 };

Queue myQ = new Queue();

myQ.Enqueue("Hello");

myQ.Enqueue("World!");

arlist1.AddRange(arlist2); //adding arraylist in arraylist

arlist1.AddRange(arr); //adding array in arraylist

arlist1.AddRange(myQ); //adding Queue in arraylist

Try it

Accessing an ArrayList

The  ArrayList   class implements the  IList   interface. So, elements can be accessed using
indexer, in the same way as an array. Index starts from zero and increases by one for each
subsequent element.

An explicit casting to the appropriate types is required, or use the var variable.

Example: Accessing Elements of ArrayList

var arlist = new ArrayList()

1,

"Bill",

300,

4.5f

};

//Access individual item using indexer

int firstElement = (int) arlist[0]; //returns 1

string secondElement = (string) arlist[1]; //returns "Bill"

//int secondElement = (int) arlist[1]; //Error: cannot cover string to int

//using var keyword without explicit casting

var firstElement = arlist[0]; //returns 1

var secondElement = arlist[1]; //returns "Bill"

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//var fifthElement = arlist[5]; //Error: Index out of range

//update elements

arlist[0] = "Steve";

arlist[1] = 100;

//arlist[5] = 500; //Error: Index out of range

Try it

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Iterate an ArrayList

The  ArrayList   implements the  ICollection  interface that supports iteration of the collection
types. So, use the  foreach   and the  for   loop to iterate an  ArrayList . The  Count   property of
an  ArrayList  returns the total number of elements in an  ArrayList .

Example: Iterate ArrayList

ArrayList arlist = new ArrayList()

1,

"Bill",

300,

4.5F

};

foreach (var item in arlist)

Console.Write(item + ", "); //output: 1, Bill, 300, 4.5,

for(int i = 0 ; i < arlist.Count; i++)

Console.Write(arlist[i] + ", "); //output: 1, Bill, 300, 4.5,

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Insert Elements in ArrayList

Use the  Insert()  method to insert an element at the specified index into an  ArrayList .

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Signature:  void Insert(int index, Object value)

Example: Insert Element in ArrayList

ArrayList arlist = new ArrayList()

1,

"Bill",

300,

4.5f

};

arlist.Insert(1, "Second Item");

foreach (var val in arlist)

Console.WriteLine(val);

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Use the  InsertRange()  method to insert a collection in an  ArrayList  at the specfied index.

Signature:  Void InsertRange(int index, ICollection c)

Example: Insert Collection in ArrayList

ArrayList arlist1 = new ArrayList()

100, 200, 600

};

ArrayList arlist2 = new ArrayList()

300, 400, 500

};

arlist1.InsertRange(2, arlist2);

foreach(var item in arlist1)

Console.Write(item + ", "); //output: 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600,

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Remove Elements from ArrayList

Use the  Remove() ,  RemoveAt() , or  RemoveRange  methods to remove elements from an  ArrayList .

Example: Remove Elements from ArrayList

ArrayList arList = new ArrayList()

1,

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null,

"Bill",

300,

" ",

4.5f,

300,

};

arList.Remove(null); //Removes first occurance of null

arList.RemoveAt(4); //Removes element at index 4

arList.RemoveRange(0, 2);//Removes two elements starting from 1st item (0 index)

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Check Element in ArrayList

Use the  Contains()   method to determine whether the specified element exists in
the  ArrayList  or not. It returns true if exists otherwise returns false.

Example: Check for Elements

ArrayList arList = new ArrayList()

1,

"Bill",

300,

4.5f,

300

};

Console.WriteLine(arList.Contains(300)); // true
Console.WriteLine(arList.Contains("Bill")); // true

Console.WriteLine(arList.Contains(10)); // false

Console.WriteLine(arList.Contains("Steve")); // false

Try it

 Note:

It is not recommended to use the  ArrayList   class due to performance issue. Instead, use  List<object>   to store
heterogeneous objects. To store data of same data type, use Generic List<T>.

ArrayList Class

The following diagram illustrates the  ArrayList  class.

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8/27/2021 C# ArrayList (With Examples)

C# ArrayList

ArrayList Properties
Properties Description

Capacity Gets or sets the number of elements that the ArrayList can contain.

Count Gets the number of elements actually contained in the ArrayList.

IsFixedSize Gets a value indicating whether the ArrayList has a fixed size.

IsReadOnly Gets a value indicating whether the ArrayList is read-only.

Item Gets or sets the element at the specified index.

ArrayList Methods

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Methods Description

Add()/AddRange() Add() method adds single elements at the end of ArrayList. 

Insert()/InsertRange() Insert() method insert a single elements at the specified index in ArrayList. 
InsertRange() method insert all the elements of the specified collection starting from
specified index in ArrayList.

Remove()/RemoveRange() Remove() method removes the specified element from the ArrayList. 
RemoveRange() method removes a range of elements from the ArrayList.

RemoveAt() Removes the element at the specified index from the ArrayList.

Sort() Sorts entire elements of the ArrayList.

Reverse() Reverses the order of the elements in the entire ArrayList.

Contains Checks whether specified element exists in the ArrayList or not. Returns true if exists
otherwise false.

Clear Removes all the elements in ArrayList.

CopyTo Copies all the elements or range of elements to compitible Array.

GetRange Returns specified number of elements from specified index from ArrayList.

IndexOf Search specified element and returns zero based index if found. Returns -1 if element
not found.

ToArray Returns compitible array from an ArrayList.

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